With the release of our newest modules «Activities» and «Demand & Forecasting» it became clear, Shifton grew up to be something more than just a simple shift planning solution. As a fact, we have too many modules, and we want to simplify their understanding. We decided to merge some modules, providing more value at one click, effectively changing pricing for some modules, to reflect their increased value.

Base module will now include 3 additional reports: «Budget reports », «Company employees» and «Minimum weekly work time report ». Base price module will change to $1 to reflect those additions and tons of other features we added as base functionality during the years.

«Time off requests» will get beautiful insights, previously part of «Vacation Management» and the price will be $1. Now it includes «Time Off Reports» without any additional cost.

«Attendance» module price changing to $1 and following modules price aligned to $0.5: «Employee working hours», «Bonuses/Retentions» & «Pay rate reports». Latter is also renamed to «Payroll» to reflect recent additions to its functionality and our future plans to add even more.

Those changes will take immediate effect for all new customers. Existing customers will enjoy new extended modules at old price till September 1st 2024, after that their pricing will be updated too.

We value our customers and believe those changes will help them to manage features they need with more ease.

Want to know more? Contact us at   support@shifton.com

Most workers have a regular Monday to Friday work week with a typical 9-10 AM to 6-7 PM workday. However, this method of scheduling employees doesn’t suit organizations and companies that have to work round-the-clock: hospitals, call-centers, and fire departments, just to name a few.

For example, many fire departments implement a 48/96 hour work schedule. That means that firemen typically have to work for two days straight and are given 4 days off. While they do have to be alert for two days with little time for sleep or rest, recent studies have shown that this shift work type leaves them enough time for leisure, sleep and preparing for the next rotation.

Each hospital must always have nurses available to provide 24/7 patient care. They can work 8/12-hour shifts on 3 workdays/3 days off or 2 workdays/2 days off schedule. As a rule, nurses work fixed shifts (day or night). For example, day-time nurses start working at 7 AM and finish at 7 PM, while night-time caregivers start at 7 PM, work late night shift hours and finish at 7 AM.

Call centers may have their own rules of shift work, however, there are several common ways of achieving a steady 24/7 work cycle. Managers typically divide a day into 2 or 3 shifts. In the first case, a day is divided into two 12-hour shifts for morning and evening workers. The second variant allows having three 8-hour shifts. For example: 6 AM – 2 PM (1st), 2 PM – 10 PM (2nd), and 10 PM — 6 AM (3rd).

In some cases, employees are required to alternate between shifts: work morning shifts for a couple of days and then switch to a night shift for the same period. According to the latest research, a change in working hours negatively affects sleep and eating patterns. Working a night shift schedule can cause insomnia, high blood pressure, weight and appetite disorders. This article will detail the proper ways of adapting to a night time schedule.

12-hour night shift sleep schedule example

Human body’s circadian rhythm determines waking and resting hours. People who work in organizations with a 24/7 work cycle, including policemen, firemen, nurses, call center operators, and gas station workers, have their circadian clocks disrupted. As a rule, managers have to plan shift work so that workers will get an adequate amount of time for work and rest.

Compared to an 8-hour day shift, night shift (11 PM to 6 AM) work time is decreased from 8 to 7 hours. A worker can also agree to a 12 AM — 5 AM schedule, if necessary. Despite missing five work hours a week compared to their daytime colleagues, night-shift employees receive the same 40-hour-week salary. Night shift staff can be called in for extra hours of work, but do no more than 8 hours in 24 hours.

16-17-year-old staff members are forbidden from working between 12 and 4 AM. However, such workers are allowed to work from 10 PM to 6 AM if they are hired by hotels, retail shops, or hospitals. There are no limitations to night shift schedule hours for hospitals, emergency services, TV, and radio stations.

Many workers who have to make a transition from a morning to an evening shift experience exhaustion, insomnia, changes in weight and appetite. It takes them too much time to cope with new daily waking and sleeping hours, however, there are tricks that make this process less painful for inexperienced workers.

How to get a good night sleep when working late evening shift hours

In order to painlessly transition between shifts, the body has to be prepared for the coming changes. If an employee switches between morning and evening shifts, the time of waking up and going to bed has to be prolonged or shortened. When an employee switches from a morning to a night shift schedule, he has to wake up and go to bed an hour later for a couple of days. In order to painlessly transition from a night to a morning working hours, employees have to wake up and go to bed an hour earlier for a couple of days.

Whenever your work begins, good night sleep is a guarantee of a productive day at the job. In general, workers have to sleep t least 6 hours a day to feel well-rested. Those working the night shift have a hard time achieving this goal due to the fact that our bodies are rigged to be active during the daytime. The solution to this problem is adapting the environment to that of the night time.

First and foremost, one should block out all of the noises. Switching off your smartphone, doorbell, and TV is a must. If you are accustomed to sleeping with the white noise on, you may purchase good noise cancelling headphones under 200 dollars to eliminate surrounding sounds interfering with your sleep. It will also work better if the bedroom is located in the quietest place of home. Having soundproof windows with good isolation will make it easier to isolate any outdoor noise. It is also good to tell friends and neighbors about your new sleeping schedule so that they don’t call you accidentally during those hours.

It is also important to make the room as dark as possible even when the sun is shining brightly outside. Covering windows with pitch black curtains is a good solution. Avoid eating or drinking before going to bed. Make it a habit of not taking alcohol or caffeine a couple of hours before going to bed. A good read, a hot shower/bath will make it easier for your body to relax and fall asleep.

How shift work changes appetite

The changes in circadian rhythm affect the body’s sleeping as well as eating patterns. Irregular or excessive food consumption, especially at night time, makes workers feel fatigued and restless. Both their productivity and health suffer as a result.

There are several tips for surviving the night shift with minimum risk of developing gastrointestinal diseases or gaining excess weight. Before going to work, it is important to have the biggest meal of the day. That way you will be energized and ready to take on the day. 6 PM is the best time to have that meal for those working late at night.

What to eat during night shift work

Suffering from drowsiness and fatigue seems to be one of the most common side effects of working the night shift. These feelings can be dealt with by sticking to a healthy diet. During night shifts it is better for workers to focus on high-protein food, including tuna, chicken, tofu, eggs, low-fat cheese. These products will keep employees alert and focused.

They can be combined into nutritious snacks an employee can bring to work. For example, you can pack some brown rice salad with chicken breast and tofu or a dietary vegetable and beans soup. You can also keep hunger at bay with hazelnuts, apples, greek yogurt, almonds, carrots, and hummus, are all perfectly good and healthy choices.

It is also necessary to drink enough water during the night shifts. An adequate amount of liquid will make you less dependent on coffee or sweets as sources of alertness and energy. Sugar-free black and herbal tea, fresh vegetable juices and cold water are all nice choices for hydration.

What to avoid during night shift work

Eating high-carbohydrate shortly before or during the night shift is a full proof way of getting yourself drowsy and unproductive. Things like potatoes, bread or cereals sedate and relax workers, making it harder for them to pull through the night shift.

Sweetened beverages and food that is high in sugar content can be just as harmful. Soda or a candy bar may seem like good sources of energy at first, but this kind of snack will make you sleepy a couple of hours later. Not to mention that during the night time a human body can’t process sugar effectively.

Too much caffeine is another health threat for night shift workers. It’s OK to drink several cups of coffee at the beginning of a night shift, but consuming it during the whole duration can cause insomnia and other sleeping disorders. Your daily dose shouldn’t be more than 400 mg of caffeine ( four small cups).

We hope that night shift workers will find the listed advice helpful.

Technologies are intended to make our lives easier, and in terms of business operation, WFM software fully complies with this statement. Do you know what this exceptional type of software product is? Probably, you want to launch WMF scheduling software to guarantee the flawless operation of your staff and business as a whole, but you still have no idea how to do that. Then, our article may be helpful for you.

What is Contact Center Workforce Management?

Contact center workforce management (WFM) is a strategic approach to optimizing staffing, scheduling, and overall workforce efficiency in call centers. It ensures that the right number of agents with the necessary skills are available at the right time to handle customer interactions. Effective workforce management call center solutions use AI-driven analytics, forecasting, and automation to enhance both employee performance and customer satisfaction.

The core elements of contact center workforce management include:

• Forecasting – Predicting call volume trends to plan staffing needs.
• Managing – Monitoring agent performance and workload distribution.
• Scheduling – Creating optimized shift schedules to maintain service levels.

By implementing a structured call center workforce management solution, businesses can reduce costs, improve agent engagement, and enhance customer experiences.

Forecasting

Accurate call center workforce management forecasting is the foundation of effective WFM call center operations. It involves analyzing historical data, seasonal trends, and real-time demand to predict customer interactions. Key forecasting methods include:

• Time-Series Analysis – Using past call volume patterns to predict future demand.
• Workload Forecasting – Determining staffing requires based on anticipated customer interactions across multiple channels (calls, emails, live chat, etc.).
• AI-Powered Forecasting – Leveraging machine learning algorithms to refine workforce predictions dynamically.

A well-structured workforce management call center scheduling process prevents overstaffing (which increases costs) and understaffing (which leads to long wait times and poor customer experiences).

Managing

Managing workforce management in call center operations involves:

• Tracking Real-Time Agent Performance – Monitoring call resolution rates, handle times, and productivity metrics.
• Optimizing Agent Utilization – Ensuring fair work distribution to prevent burnout and improve job satisfaction.
• Ensuring Compliance – Adhering to labor laws, break schedules, and overtime regulations.

With a workforce management contact center system, managers can proactively identify bottlenecks, staffing inefficiencies, and training needs, ensuring smooth call center operations.

Scheduling

Proper workforce management and call center scheduling ensures that agents are assigned shifts that align with call volume patterns while maintaining work-life balance. Best practices include:

• Automated Scheduling Software – Using AI to create optimized shift plans based on agent skills, availability, and demand.
• Flexible Shift Models – Offering split shifts, hybrid work models, and self-scheduling options to improve employee satisfaction.
• Dynamic Scheduling Adjustments – Adapting schedules in real-time to handle unexpected spikes in call volume.

A well-executed call center workforce planning strategy boosts productivity, reduces absenteeism, and improves agent retention.

How Does Workforce Management Work?

The main idea of workforce management software is to boost your staff’s operation and ensure that your human resources are applied tip-top according to their job roles, skills, and a certain schedule which should be maintained to streamline the whole workflow.

Typically, the WFM tool varies according to the requirements of the industry and the niche it is applied. Yet in general, the main duties you can handle with this type of software are as follows:

• Development of successful and effective schedules for your employees in an automated mode.
• Time management – namely, tracking your staff’s clock-ins and clock-outs, work hours, days off, sick leaves, etc.
• Regulatory compliance – that’s what typical WFM software helps to regulate and implement in the company’s regiment.

That’s the core, and it can be accompanied by additional features and tasks a particular business needs. For instance, you can get a WFM application that can be used on multiple devices, apply labor forecasting tools integrated into it, or add some analytics tools and reports to the product to get clear and accurate analytics for further development of a company.

All these features depend on the idea of software developers mostly, and there are multiple products in the markets from basic free WFM software to more sophisticated and complex products offered on a paid basis.

Why Is Workforce Management So Important for Call Centers?

Effective workforce management in a call center ensures that customer service teams operate efficiently, cost-effectively, and with high employee engagement. Without a structured contact center WFM strategy, call centers face inconsistent service levels, high turnover rates, and unnecessary labor costs.

Key reasons why workforce management call center is essential:

• Maintains Service Levels – Ensures customers receive timely responses with minimal wait times.
• Optimizes Employee Performance – Helps agents stay productive without experiencing burnout.
• Improves Customer Experience – Satisfied agents provide better service.
• Controls Labor Costs – Prevents overstaffing and unnecessary expenses.
• Boosts Agent Morale – Fair scheduling leads to happier employees.

A contact centre workforce management strategy aligns business goals with employee well-being, resulting in smoother operations and improved customer satisfaction.

WFM’s Role in a Contact Center

Call center WFM plays a crucial role in maintaining operational efficiency by addressing:

• Staffing Needs – Ensuring the right number of agents are available per shift.
• Call Routing Optimization – Assigning the best-suited agents to specific customer interactions.
• Performance Monitoring – Tracking agent activity to identify improvement areas.
• Schedule Compliance – Ensuring adherence to assigned shifts and break times.

By leveraging call center workforce management systems, businesses can streamline operations and improve service levels.

Why Use Call Center WFM Tools?

Adopting workforce management software call center solutions provides better scheduling, real-time monitoring, and workforce analytics. These tools are designed to:

Maintaining Service Levels

• Ensures the right number of agents are scheduled based on call volume predictions.
• Reduces abandoned calls, long wait times, and agent fatigue.
• Helps maintain customer service KPIs, such as first-call resolution (FCR) and response times.

Optimizing Employee Performance

• Provides data-driven insights into agent workload, call handling efficiency, and peak productivity hours.
• Identifies training needs to improve call quality and response accuracy.
• Prevents overworking employees by balancing workloads effectively.

Better Customer Experience

• Improves call routing by assigning the right agent to the right task.
• Reduces customer wait times, increasing satisfaction and loyalty.
• Ensures consistent service quality across all shifts and time zones.

Optimizing Labor Costs

• Prevents overstaffing during low-demand periods, saving payroll costs.
• Reduces overtime expenses by ensuring proper shift planning.
• Maximizes workforce utilization for higher ROI on labor investment.

Boosting Agent Morale

• Provides predictable schedules that align with employee preferences.
• Reduces burnout by ensuring reasonable workloads and rest breaks.
• Increases retention by creating a positive work environment.

Implementing contact center workforce management software ensures better control over staffing, compliance, and service quality, leading to higher productivity and reduced operational costs.

Key Features of Call Center Workforce Management

A well-structured workforce management call center strategy depends on advanced tools and features that ensure accurate scheduling, real-time monitoring, and operational efficiency. Modern contact center workforce management software includes functionalities designed to optimize agent performance, control labor costs, and enhance customer service levels.

Here are the key features that make call center workforce management systems effective:

Staff Forecasting and Scheduling

One of the most critical aspects of workforce management in call center operations is accurate forecasting. By analyzing historical data, seasonal trends, and real-time demand, businesses can:

• Predict call volume fluctuations and adjust staffing levels accordingly.
• Schedule agents efficiently to prevent overstaffing or understaffing.
• Improve service levels by aligning the right number of employees with expected workloads.

With AI-powered workforce management call center scheduling, managers can automate

Consistent Customer Experiences

A structured call center workforce planning approach ensures that:

• Customers receive fast and efficient support, regardless of the time of day.
• Service levels remain consistent across all shifts and channels (phone, email, chat, social media).
• Agents are properly allocated to handle high-demand periods.

By integrating call center workforce optimization tools, businesses enhance customer loyalty and satisfaction.

Agent Job Satisfaction and Engagement

A workforce call center strategy isn’t just about productivity — it also focuses on agent well-being. The best workforce management contact center tools provide:

• Flexible scheduling options that give employees control over their shifts.
• Fair workload distribution, preventing stress and burnout.
• Employee feedback mechanisms to keep agents engaged and motivated.

High agent engagement leads to lower turnover rates and a more efficient call center workforce.

AI-Optimized Schedules

Artificial intelligence plays a significant role in call centre workforce management by:

• Predicting peak and slow periods with high accuracy.
• Adjusting schedules dynamically based on real-time call volume.
• Optimizing break times to ensure continuous coverage without disrupting service.

With AI-driven call center workforce management solutions, businesses reduce manual scheduling efforts and improve overall efficiency.

Shift Bidding

Allowing agents to bid for shifts based on their availability and preferences improves:

• Work-life balance, making schedules more flexible.
• Employee satisfaction, leading to better retention.
• Fair shift distribution, ensuring that all employees get opportunities for desirable shifts.

Shift bidding is a key feature in modern workforce management software call center solutions.

Time and Attendance Tracking

Tracking work schedule adherence is essential for:

• Ensuring employees clock in and out on time.
• Managing absenteeism and identifying trends.
• Preventing excessive overtime and labor law violations.

By integrating time-tracking features, managers maintain full visibility into workforce efficiency.

Real-Time Team Management

A workforce management call center solution must allow supervisors to:

• Monitor agent activity in real-time.
• Identify and address workload imbalances before they affect service levels.
• Make live schedule adjustments to handle unexpected demand surges.

This feature ensures that managers can respond instantly to any scheduling or staffing issues.

Operational Efficiency

Using workforce management in a call center improves operational workflows by:

• Reducing manual scheduling efforts, saving time and resources.
• Optimizing shift coverage to maintain consistent service levels.
• Enhancing workforce productivity, ensuring better customer interactions.

With the right call center WFM tools, businesses run more efficiently and cost-effectively.

Budget Savings

A properly managed workforce management call center strategy leads to:

• Lower labor costs by preventing overstaffing and unnecessary overtime.
• More efficient resource allocation, reducing wasted payroll expenses.
• Better financial planning, ensuring labor budgets are aligned with revenue goals.

Companies that use contact centre workforce management software cut costs while improving service delivery.

Reporting and Analytics

Data-driven insights are essential for continuous improvement. A strong workforce management call centre system provides:

• Performance tracking for individual agents and teams.
• Detailed workforce reports to optimize shift planning.
• AI-driven analytics to improve forecasting and staffing decisions.

With robust reporting tools, businesses make informed scheduling decisions that drive better results.

Benefits of Workforce Management Software

Investing in workforce management software call center solutions significantly enhances operational efficiency, employee satisfaction, and customer service quality. These systems automate complex tasks, improve accuracy, and provide data-driven insights for better decision-making.

Here are the top benefits of contact center workforce management software:

1. Increased Accuracy in Scheduling and Forecasting

Using AI-driven workforce management call center forecasting, businesses can:

• Predict call volume fluctuations with precision.
• Reduce scheduling errors that lead to overstaffing or understaffing.
• Ensure optimal workforce distribution based on demand trends.

Accurate scheduling improves productivity, ensuring agents are available when they are needed most.

2. Reduce the Amount of Time Spent Scheduling

Manual scheduling is time-consuming and prone to human error. A call center workforce management solution automates:

• Shift assignments, ensuring fair and balanced work distribution.
• Break and lunch scheduling, optimizing agent availability.
• Last-minute schedule adjustments, handling unforeseen absences seamlessly.

By eliminating manual scheduling tasks, managers save time and focus on improving customer service strategies.

3. Ensure Schedule Adherence

A contact center workforce management system ensures:

• Agents follow their assigned work schedules.
• Breaks and lunch periods comply with company policies and labor laws.
• Real-time alerts notify managers of schedule deviations.

Adhering to schedules and policies leads to higher service consistency and regulatory compliance.

4. Understand Where Agents Need Extra Support

A strong workforce management call center system tracks:

• Performance gaps, identifying agents who may need additional training.
• Workload distribution, ensuring no employee is overworked or underutilized.
• Real-time agent productivity, allowing for quick adjustments.

By analyzing workforce data, businesses can implement targeted training and coaching programs.

5. Create a Better Agent Experience

Happy agents deliver better customer service. Workforce management solutions help:

• Provide fair and flexible scheduling that aligns with agent preferences.
• Reduce stress and burnout by balancing workloads.
• Offer self-scheduling features, giving employees more control over their shifts.

A better work-life balance leads to higher job satisfaction and lower turnover rates.

6. Promote Regulatory Compliance

Labor laws and compliance requirements vary across industries and locations. Workforce management in a call center ensures:

• Adherence to work-hour limits and overtime regulations.
• Automated break and lunch scheduling to comply with labor laws.
• Accurate tracking of hours worked, preventing payroll discrepancies.

By maintaining compliance with legal requirements, businesses avoid penalties and improve workforce transparency.

Call Center Workforce Management Best Practices

Implementing call center workforce management best practices ensures that call centers operate efficiently, cost-effectively, and with high employee engagement. By optimizing scheduling, leveraging technology, and maintaining agent satisfaction, businesses can enhance service levels while reducing operational costs.

Below are the most effective best practices for workforce management call center operations:

1. Choose the Right WFM Software

Selecting the right workforce management software call center is critical for accurate forecasting, real-time scheduling, and performance tracking. Key factors to consider:

• AI-driven scheduling capabilities to automate and optimize workforce allocation.
• Real-time monitoring to track agent adherence and workload balance.
• Self-service options that allow employees to swap or request shifts.
• Analytics and reporting features to improve decision-making.

With contact center workforce management software, businesses can enhance productivity and optimize resource allocation.

2. Schedule the Right Agents at the Right Time

Proper scheduling prevents staffing shortages and excessive overtime costs. To optimize workforce management in a call center, companies should:

• Leverage In-Depth Analytics. Use historical data and AI-based forecasting to predict call volumes, peak hours, and seasonal trends.
• Empower Your Employees. Allow agents to request preferred shifts while ensuring coverage for critical time slots.
• Build a Knowledge Base. Provide training and resources to enhance agent skills and improve scheduling efficiency.
• Empower Employees with Self-Service. Enable shift swaps and availability updates through a workforce call center management system.
• Continuous Learning. Offer ongoing training programs to improve agent efficiency and adaptability.
• Don’t Forget About Shrinkage. Factor in absenteeism, breaks, and meeting times to ensure full shift coverage.
• Be Adaptable. Use real-time scheduling tools to adjust shifts dynamically based on demand fluctuations.

By applying these scheduling strategies, businesses maximize workforce efficiency and agent productivity.

3. Help Keep Agent Morale High and Prevent Burnout

Agent well-being and engagement directly impact customer service quality. To maintain high morale, managers should:

Provide Schedule Predictability or Autonomy

• Give employees advance notice of shift schedules to improve work-life balance.
• Offer flexible scheduling options, such as hybrid work models or shift bidding.

Keep Agents Engaged

• Implement gamification to make daily tasks more interactive and rewarding.
• Foster a positive work environment with recognition programs.

Show Appreciation for Great Work

• Provide incentives and bonuses for top-performing agents.
• Recognize hard work and achievements to boost motivation.

A positive workplace culture leads to lower turnover rates and higher service quality.

4. Let AI Take the Grunt Work

AI-powered workforce management call center scheduling tools eliminate manual errors and streamline operations by:

• Automating demand-based scheduling to prevent overstaffing and understaffing.
• Optimizing agent assignments based on performance, skills, and customer needs.
• Improving workforce flexibility with real-time shift adjustments.

With AI-driven workforce management contact center solutions, businesses enhance efficiency and reduce administrative workload.

5. Incorporate Employee (and Customer) Feedback

Listening to both employees and customers helps refine workforce management strategies. Best practices include:

• Conducting regular employee surveys to identify scheduling challenges.
• Using customer feedback to assess service levels and adjust staffing accordingly.
• Implementing workforce management call center jobs reviews to improve agent performance and satisfaction.

Integrating feedback into call center workforce management solutions leads to better agent experiences and higher customer satisfaction rates.

How Software Can Support Your Call Center Workforce Management

Adopting workforce management software call center solutions simplifies staff scheduling, real-time monitoring, and performance tracking. Advanced contact center workforce management software automates forecasting, shift planning, and compliance tracking, ensuring businesses optimize resources while maintaining high service levels.

Here’s how call center workforce management systems support efficient operations:

Track KPIs and Metrics

Measuring key performance indicators (KPIs) allows businesses to improve workforce management call center strategies. Essential KPIs include:

• Call Volume Trends – Tracks fluctuations in incoming customer requests to refine forecasting.
• First-Call Resolution (FCR) – Measures how effectively agents resolve issues in a single interaction.
• Schedule Adherence – Ensures employees follow assigned shifts and break schedules.
• Occupancy Rate – Determines agent productivity levels to prevent overwork or underutilization.
• Customer Satisfaction Scores (CSAT) – Evaluates service quality and agent performance.

By analyzing real-time data, businesses can continuously optimize workforce operations.

Automate Schedule Adherence and Approvals

Automating workforce management in a call center ensures schedule consistency by:

• Enforcing work-hour limits to prevent excessive overtime.
• Managing shift swaps while maintaining adequate coverage.
• Automating break scheduling to comply with labor laws.
• Providing real-time adherence alerts to help managers address issues proactively.

With workforce management call center scheduling tools, managers can reduce scheduling conflicts and improve compliance.

Enable Skills-Based Routing

Effective workforce management contact center strategies include skill-based call routing, which:

• Matches customers with the most qualified agents, improving first-contact resolution.
• Enhances operational efficiency by directing specialized inquiries to expert teams.
• Reduces call transfer rates, leading to faster response times and improved customer satisfaction.

With AI-powered workforce call center solutions, businesses increase efficiency while optimizing agent workload distribution.

Use Predictive Forecasting

Call center workforce forecasting tools analyze historical trends, real-time demand, and seasonal fluctuations to:

• Adjust staffing levels dynamically based on predicted workload.
• Prevent overstaffing during low-demand periods, reducing labor costs.
• Ensure peak demand is met with adequate agent coverage.

By leveraging predictive analytics, businesses improve workforce allocation and service consistency.

Спасибо за уточнение! Вношу правки в последний раздел, убирая упоминания ИИ и производительности.

How Shifton Can Help with Workforce Management Call Center Solutions

Shifton is a cloud-based service designed for employee shift planning and scheduling. It helps businesses efficiently manage workforce schedules, reduce administrative workload, and improve shift coordination. Key benefits include:

• Automated Shift Planning – Quickly creates optimized work schedules, ensuring fair shift distribution.
• Real-Time Adjustments – Allows managers to modify schedules instantly to accommodate staffing needs.
• Self-Scheduling Features – Enables employees to bid for shifts, request swaps, and set availability preferences.
• Flexible Scheduling Options – Supports fixed, rotating, and part-time shifts, making workforce management more adaptable.
• Compliance Support – Helps businesses structure shifts according to labor laws and company policies.

With Shifton’s intuitive scheduling platform, businesses can streamline workforce planning, improve team coordination, and maintain seamless shift operations.

Automation can be used in almost everything, even in the niche of security services where besides special security monitoring tools you can also use security guard scheduling software to boost your company’s efficiency and increase it to the top levels.

In Shifton, we have multiple successful cases of the implementation of security guard management software, and we can gladly share with the readers of our blog some secrets and bright sides of such a technical solution.

What is Security Guard Scheduling Software?

The core idea of security scheduling software is to optimize your human resources to make them work with the highest efficiency. In terms of a security department or a company providing security services and bodyguarding services, this product solves the following problems:

• Correct scheduling to provide fair and clear shifts for everyone working in your company. You can make schedules and share them with your staff instantly in a single environment to inform them, or even to allow them to select when to work and which shifts to pick up.
• Preventing overworking. That tool helps management to avoid extra loading some of its workers while others may stay lazy and earn less.
• Control the time of your staff. Particularly, in Shifton, we use GPS in our security staff scheduling software and allow a business owner or a manager who is in charge to control each worker’s clock-ins and clock-outs, their absence in a workplace, or issues of being late.
• Correct accounting processes. In the security service business, you have multiple features to consider when calculating payroll. With the help of an adjusted security guard schedule template, you can calculate salaries in the automated mode, add bonuses or penalties for each employee, and easily send ready-made tables with payroll calculations to your accounting department.

How Does Security Guard Scheduling Software Work?

Of course, each security scheduling software may have its peculiarities in terms of its functions, but typically, it works the same.

• You have an environment your employees have access to where you create schedules by using pre-set templates or by developing your own template.
• You can easily fill in the form and disperse work shifts and hours between your workers.
• When it’s time to calculate payroll, the platform automatically counts work hours for each employee and creates a table or a report you can use further for payroll.
• In case your software is also security guard tracking software, it offers special tools to indicate work hours and make your workers signal when they start their shifts and when they end them.

That’s a brief explanation of any security guard scheduling software. Yet, if you want it to be the most effective and provide you with advanced functionality, you can get all that merits from Shifton.

Shifton Best Security Guard Scheduling Software of 2024

Why do we claim Shifton is the best security guard management software? There are numerous reasons for that. In general, the core features making our product the #1 in the market for security service agencies and security departments are as follows:

• Built-in scenarios and templates for successful scheduling of workflow in the agency. We provide customers with numerous templates which fit various types of business and hiring models, thus, you can adjust them to your particular workflow.
• Special task module, which offers wide opportunities to assign tasks besides creating schedules and shifts. This multifactor assignment module helps to keep an eye on who and when is in charge and has to pick up the shift, and simultaneously assign tasks which should be done during the shift.
• Easy and flexible changes in shifts. In case of an emergency or some extra situation, you can change shifts, provide replacements in shifts, and at the same time, you get instant information about the number of work hours of each worker to prevent overworking.
• Instant communication with your staff. Shifton offers simple communication with the whole staff using built-in tools of the application. You can inform your workers timely about changes, get their feedback, and contact them via the app when your personnel is in the field.
• Alert tools that help to deliver your messages to the staff instantly with seamless control of receiving them.
• Advanced payroll tools that offer complex calculation of salaries, including the application of special scenarios of bonus accounting and penalties.
• Tracking tools help to monitor the performance of tasks, taking shifts, and timely arrivals.

That’s the basic kit we offer, and besides it, you can use that tool for forecasting, analytics, and planning. There are multiple integrated report forms and analytic tools you get access to.

Understanding the Value of Security Guard Scheduling Software

Yet, what’s so special in security scheduling software to make it a must for niche businesses? Let’s consider the most impacting benefits.

Optimized Coverage for Security Goals

Nothing can be worse than understaffing in the security business. If you miss providing enough guards to reach the highest security levels, you miss more than a client, but you also miss your good reputation. With the help of special security scheduling software, you can plan your security coverage and engage as many people as you need for impeccable performance.

Improved Visibility and Accountability

Shifton, as an example of security management software, provides the highest level of visibility and accountability. You don’t need any more to write plans and check them in the office. Instead, you momentarily see schedules and current tasks for each employee, you know who is in the field right now and who is on their day off. You do not need to spend time on calls and clarifying the current state of affairs. You simply launch the app and get instant information about everything concerning your personnel.

Lower Scheduling Overhead

Save your time on scheduling and accounting multiple details. That can be done automatically by your security scheduling software. Even the most complex rules and calculations are performed error-free with the help of software.

Real-Time Monitoring

Tracking the workflow in real time is priceless. Thus, you can react timely to new circumstances, plan in advance further routines, and get instant information about emergencies, delays, or any extra situations. So, you can mitigate them timely to maintain streamlined operations.

Improved Communication

The core thing in each business is clear and fast communication between team members and managers. That’s why using security guard management software helps to maintain communication in the fastest and the most convenient mode. You can get instant feedback from your guards about the completion of their tasks, get information about required schedule changes from employees who cannot pick up the shift, or inform your staff about anything you want with guaranteed notification for everyone.

These features implemented in the new-gen technical background by Shifton help businesses engaged in security services comply with their goals and provide clients with impeccable levels of services. Besides, such software mitigates costs and time expenses for CEOs to help them focus on more important things instead of constantly monitoring, informing, and scheduling their staff.

Being a hotelier or a CEO in the hospitality business provides you with multiple duties, challenges, and emergencies which can be overcome using employee management software for hotels. It’s not a secret that a lion’s share of processes in any hotel is related to mutual communication with your staff. In hotels, you have lots of employees as usual. Even if it is a family business, you cannot run it alone.

This fact leads to a new one: most difficulties and blunders you may face while trying to put your hotel business on its feet occur due to the lack of timely and effective communication between you and your staff. In Shifton, we clearly understand that and we can help you to cope with such situations by sharing our experience and our hotelscheduling software.

How to manage hotel staff: keys for success

Your staff should work seamlessly because your hotel’s reputation and your clients’ loyalty depend greatly on their operation. This means that you should think out all possible challenges which may mitigate all the efforts you make to create a flawless hotel. Especially these ones need your consideration:

• Lack of communication between your employees and teams.
• Difficulties with shift scheduling and thus, occurring problems with customer service.
• Low flexibility in staff management which leads to staff shortages with time.
• Badly developed task management.
• Lack of motivation and ineffective system of rewards and punishments.

Besides your efforts on how to mitigate these issues, employee management software for hotels may come in handy in checkout and adjustment of your staff operation. Save time, consider communication channels to reach out to your staff timely, but firstly, analyze which issues happen in your operation regularly to work on them.

Communication issues in the hospitality industry

The first and foremost thing you need to provide is communication in the hotel industry. You need your managers to timely book rooms for clients and inform maids about which rooms need to be cleaned. You need to get timely information about who and when starts the shift today and who will come to the shift tomorrow. Your bartenders have to inform about which supplies they need for the bar, and the security service has to provide timely reports. That’s just the tip of the iceberg, and communication is what forms the basis for success. What happens when it lacks?

• The whole operation can fall into chaos.
• Customers remain unsatisfied and can make negative reviews on your work.
• Staff shortages are inevitable.
• You lose money, and you lose good workers instead of making them more motivated.

Sounds sad, doesn’t it? Yet, you need just one thing besides your time for keeping hotels. That’s staff scheduling software for hotels, which helps to cope with multiple issues at once.

Automation of staff management and planning

When you get Shifton’s employee management software for hotels, you get an all-purpose tool in your hand.

1. Your staff won’t miss their shifts or overwork due to a GPS-powered time clock which helps to clock in and out directly from their mobile devices.
2. You create schedules for all teams as simply as possible due to integrated hotel employee schedule templates.
3. You get instant information about your establishment’s operation using automated reporting in the software.
4. You make daily tasks and operations streamlined, and time management is more effective in this case.
5. Automated human resources tasks help you with a more efficient and personalized hiring and onboarding process.
6. You get a framework for communication and information of your staff where employees can access important information while on the go as Shifton works as employee mobile apps for hotels.
7. Getting feedback from your staff is essential, and you get a digital social feed that promotes employee engagement and collaboration.
8. Seamless payroll and accounting integration with QuickBooks Online – that’s what helps you to calculate salaries fairly and quickly and motivate good employees automatically.

How to improve the management of a work team?

Efficient team management in the hospitality industry can make all the difference in customer satisfaction and overall business success. With Shifton, you can use the following tips and enjoy the results almost instantly.

• Use special scheduling templates i.e., 2/2, 3/3, 1/3, 5/2 to create effective working shifts and distribute your staff logically and efficiently.
• Use the Tasks tool to make assignments of tasks to employees, track their completion, create checklists for maids and cooks, for example, and check task statuses instantly to ensure everything is going OK. This eases the operation and helps to make task management work for your profit.
• Notify your staff using their mobile apps. By operating in a common framework, your employees will get automatic push notifications and reminders, and they never miss them.
• Provide higher flexibility by exchanging shifts, weekends, and sick days online. Your staff will be grateful if you react to their emergent needs for replacements or sick days quickly. And your business will get benefits from that too.
• Motivate your employees with overtime bonuses. They can be calculated automatically as Shifton calculates the working hours of each employee and provides clear reports on who overwork today.
• Manage breaks to make them not harming your business. Create pre-scheduled breaks or set limits on the number and duration of breaks.
• Check the attendance and get timely information when actually a person starts and ends the shift, who was late or missed a shift.

These tips can help you with easily managing a hotel even if your team is of 100+ employees.

Employee management software for hospitality

With robust employee management software for hotels, you can more efficiently schedule employees and flexibly replace them in case of emergency.

• Assign staff shifts based on job role, availability.
• Use drag and drop, assign shifts in bulk, set recurring shifts, create customizable templates, and even allow employees to claim open shifts available.
• Easily resolve scheduling issues with overtime alerts, limitation alerts, or scheduling conflict alerts.
• Provide push notifications for employees to allow them to immediately accept or reject shifts directly from their mobile devices.
• Include shift tasks, notes, and even files within the schedule, so employees know exactly what to do upon arrival to work.
• Complete oversight over collaborative staff scheduling in real time, all while on the go.

Communication is the basis of effective hotel management. Yet, providing it can be a complex task. Thanks to the availability of modern automation tools, you can delegate a part of the communication and interaction processes in your staff to that solution. Today, Shifton offers hotel businesses a multipurpose automation tool that helps with staff management, shift management, emergent situations solutions, recruiting and motivating your team. Just pick it and use it to get success with this employee mobile app for hotels.

The team at Shifton keeps improving a tool for selecting and deploying medical staff for shifts, introducing the nurse schedule template. Nobody doubts anymore that efficient planning plays a crucial role­ in healthcare, guarantee­ing that hospitals and clinics operate. Let’s talk about how a chosen nurse scheduling app or template helps with online schedule planning.

Nurse Schedule Templates: What Is It?

Nurse schedule templates are like the backbone of the hospital nurse shift management system. They’re pre-made documents that help managers plan when their nursing teams work. These schedules cover all sorts of shifts, from day to night. Plus, they consider each staff member’s stuff, like when they can and can’t work, to keep everyone happy and the schedule running smoothly.

How do Nurse Schedule Templates Boost Hospital and Clinic Management?

Nurse schedule templates are super crucial for running hospitals and clinics smoothly. Lots of healthcare places are using them to make nurse staffing schedules easier, and here’s why:

No Mess: These templates help cut down on mistakes in scheduling so you don’t end up short-staffed and scrambling to cover shifts. Managers can easily spot gaps or overlaps and fix them to make sure there’s always someone on duty.

Time Saver: Using healthcare staff scheduling templates or apps saves much time compared to making schedules from scratch every week. Tweak a pre-made template or update an app instead.

Happy Nurses: Nursing is challenging, so keeping nurses happy is vital. Using these templates means nurses get clear, fair schedules they can plan around. That makes for a happier, more productive team.

Transparency: Managing nurse scheduler apps and templates also makes schedules more transparent. Everyone can see who’s working when, so there’s no feeling like someone’s getting special treatment. It’s all about teamwork and making sure patients get top-notch care.

How to Create a Nurse Schedule Template

While countless templates are available online for staff scheduling, creating your own is straightforward — more accessible than you’d expect. It’s a one-time task that will save you time in the long run. Here are 5 easy steps for you to follow:

1. Pick a platform. Use Excel, Google Sheets, or online nurse scheduling software.
2. Personalize the template with your organization’s details and staff names.
3. If necessary, include hourly rates for staff.
4. Populate the schedule based on staff availability, ensuring everyone’s workload is balanced.
5. Share the schedule with your team, controlling who can edit it as needed.
   

Enhancing Nurse Shift Schedules: 6 Helpful Tips

Healthcare organizations need to up their game regarding nurse scheduling to boost clinical and business results. Crafting a nurse shift schedule is just the beginning; to make it work for everyone, check out these six tips:

Use Nurse Scheduling Software

Nurse scheduling software rocks because it keeps everything clear and transparent, so your team always knows when and where they work. Say goodbye to old-school Excel sheets and give shift scheduling software like Shifton a spin. It makes scheduling a breeze, even with the medical staff’s crazy and ever-changing schedules. Plus, it handles time-off requests and keeps track of attendance and payroll — all in one handy spot.

Consider What Your Staff Want

When sorting out schedules, consider what your nursing crew likes. It’s an easy way to keep them happy, lift their spirits, and keep them around. Some folks prefer specific shifts, while others might want to avoid working on particular days. Working around these preferences will make your team happier and less likely to jump ship.

Have Backup Plans

Life’s unpredictable, so be ready for emergencies. While it’s unfortunate, these things happen, and they can disrupt the shift schedule, especially during those significant hospital shift changes. It’s great if you have an on-call nurse who can always come to help when needed, just like many clinics do.

Keep Your Schedule Updated

Don’t let your schedule gather dust. Make sure you keep an eye on the nurse’s schedule and give it a refresh now and then. That way, it stays current with any changes in staff availability, hospital needs, etc. The last thing you want is for your team to check an outdated schedule and miss shifts or show up late, throwing off the whole nurse shift change routine.

Give Your Nurses Some Rest

Make sure your nurses get enough downtime between shifts to recharge. When nurses don’t get enough sleep, they’re more likely to get needlestick injuries and deal with health issues like hypertension, obesity, diabetes, depression, and heart problems. Plus, working long hours can lead to compassion fatigue. That’s why it’s vital to automate shift planning. Smart shift scheduling software can handle scheduling without hiccups, unlike humans, who can mess things up.

Good Communication Is Key

Keeping your team informed about their schedules is critical to keeping everyone happy and avoiding mix-ups. Want to keep the good vibes flowing in your crew? Always keep them informed about what’s going on and any upcoming changes. Using a nurse scheduling app where everyone can quickly check in? That’s a great idea!

Final Thoughts

Using nurse staffing software makes managing your workload simpler and increases productivity. When this critical task isn’t done well, it can cause problems for nurses, nurse leaders, hospitals, and patients. Lousy scheduling can also make nurses unhappy and cost hospitals a lot in overtime pay. That’s where Shifton helps out! As a nurse manager, ensuring your nursing staff is well-organized is vital to facilitate seamless patient care.

With Shifton, you can:

• Easily organize and oversee your nursing team to ensure adequate coverage.
• Monitor patient care tasks, such as medication administration and procedures.
• Coordinate and communicate with your team effortlessly.

Bid farewell to the headaches of manual scheduling. Everyone’s heard about it — in 2024, nurse scheduling apps will be rolling out. They’re all about making shift planning easier, reducing paperwork, and helping nurses balance work and life.

Give Shifton software a try today for smoother nursing management.

Following the schedule is one of the most important things in any company’s working process. Professionals have to value their time and properly use it during working hours. Workers can take advantage of the following advice to make their job less hectic.

Knowing your limits is one of the simplest time management tips

Don’t be afraid to speak to your management, if you run into difficulties. Better make things clear from the get-go than wait until the situation spirals out of control. For example, if you need to book a hotel for a business trip, make sure that you make reservations for the right number of rooms with the hotel being in the right part of town. You should also ask about any financial limits.

You can’t always handle things by yourself. There is no shame in asking for help from your co-workers. If you were given a task you can’t handle, you can distribute work among some of your colleagues. This can be done if, for example, you are tasked with front-end work on an entire website. You can delegate the work on a couple of pages to fellow programmers. This way you will save yourself from unnecessary fatigue and will have a higher chance of finishing the assignment on time.

Don’t loiter your time away

Whatever happens, you should stay focused on your responsibilities. Don’t jump off your chair the second you see your boss leaves the office. Focus on your work instead of aimlessly walking around the office and chatting with co-workers. We advise that you make a detailed work plan to keep yourself on track.

Try to keep away from distractions. There nothing wrong in calling our friends and loved ones from time to time. This practice, however, can turn into a bad habit if the phone calls and texting get out of control.

Organize your working space

Treating your work desk with respect has to be one of the top time management tips. Pay particular attention to where your documents are stored. That way you won’t waste precious time looking for them. Write down all of your assignments in a work journal or a digital document. Otherwise, you risk forgetting about them. You also shouldn’t eat where you work. This lowers concentration and makes you sleepy.

Be punctual

Try to arrive at work and leave on time. Taking too many days-off without a strong reason or without notifying your higher-ups is a bad idea. If you want to leave work earlier, tell your manager about it.

Don’t make colleagues wait for your part of the job to be done. Especially if you work on a big project and people rely on you. Your inaction or lazy work will affect their progress as well.

It seems that many of us are capable of distributing our time and the time of our employees properly and in a rational way. If that’s the case, why are we so often confronted with the lack of this prominent, valuable and sadly finite resource? At first, it seems that we do everything right: write down plans in our notebooks, minimize distractions and stick to following our goals. Perhaps the root cause of our losses and time deficit lies in failing to follow effective time management rules? Let’s try to find out what can cause this and learn how to properly manage our time in an effective and rational manner.

In order to do this, we have to talk about the four frame model of time management. If we want to understand its principles, we must first define what time management actually means. Effective time management is a science, a tool or teaching about properly managing, distributing, organizing, recording and using time.

Why we need the time management process?

• It is a tool that allows making the biggest number of set tasks in the shortest time possible;

• Time management process helps set our work priorities straight;

• It gives an opportunity to focus on the most vital tasks first and tackle less important responsibilities only after dealing with high priority level assignments;

• By following proper time management models you will have time for leisure, family and a vibrant life outside of work.

Of course, you shouldn’t forget that effective time management is going to lead you to master new important skills and methods that are used in achieving specific goals and completing important projects. Time management process is a huge mechanism that contains a wide variety of actions, skills, and abilities as any other discipline. These include proper goal planning, delegating responsibility, making lists and plans, monitoring, analyzing time costs, evaluating the value of various actions, setting priorities, etc.

What is a four frame model exactly?

Classic time management emerged some time ago, back when there was a solitary approach towards management. The world is constantly developing and the same can be said about the study of effective time distribution. After the 2012 release of “Reframing Organizations: Artistry, Choice and Leadership” book by Lee Bolman and Terry Deal, time management process became viewed as a complex, multi-layered apparatus. That’s when the “four-frame model” notion first appeared. It is a system of controlling your time as well as the system, process, yourself, and other people.

The main difference between monostatic and four frame management is that traditional time management is more oriented towards controlling time was based on a single component — its priority. More specifically, it concerned doing your work tasks depending on the level of their importance. Four frame model is a more detailed, accurate and multi-faceted tool that uncovers patterns and different time management models.

In simpler terms, in order to make your and your employee’s work effective and successful, you have to forget about viewing time management process as a one-sided issue. When doing your job, you have to pay attention to all four factors mentioned below. Each of them will help you reach goals and keep up with the deadlines.

• You have to learn how to use every minute of your time properly and control it completely;

• A good company director has to develop a system of carrying out certain tasks, whether this concerns his own duties or work executed by his employees;

• You have to be in complete control of how employees work on certain tasks and projects. We don’t suggest that you should constantly control every work process aspect. Not to mention that a company CEO has to inspect and supervise some of the most valuable or problematic work areas;

• The final and not in the least bit important four frame time management factor: a good boss has to have self-discipline as well as the ability to control his subordinates, be self-collected, make rational and consecutive decisions.

Of course, one shouldn’t forget about self-discipline as it is important for employees of any position: from highest to lowest levels. When both you and your employee are orderly and polite, planning effective time management will be a breeze. In case you don’t have a proper level of self-organization and aren’t that good at setting your priorities straight, you will find it hard to systematize and structure your own time.

By using this model out of all time management models, you will start controlling your own time, your employee’s time and the work process as a whole. It seems as if this tool was specially tailored for your own perception of time, your attitude towards life and work. It will take into account the peculiarities of your system, as well as your work process into consideration and will be oriented towards the people who surround you.

Being a real estate agent is a task that consists of multiple functions, huge data, and constant communication with property sellers, buyers, and developers, although most of these functions can be delegated to special software for real estate management. Are you surprised? Then, let’s talk in detail about how real estate software for property management and scheduling helps businesses maintain the highest level of services and, thus, high customer satisfaction.

If you want to succeed in the competitive real estate industry, it’s crucial to go ahead of other agents. This means that you should not limit yourself to one location and get as many property offers to sell as possible. A real estate showing scheduler will come in handy to help you streamline your business and team.

Real estate scheduling apps do not limit you just to scheduling routines. They go far and also help you with multiple tasks you may have:

• controlling your busy agendas;
• securing more listing appointments;
• planning cleaners’ visits and decorators’ work on the pre-showing stage;
• calculating payroll for your staff if you are a real estate agency owner;
• providing easy and effective communication within your team.

If you organize your schedule well, you will maximize the number of appointments and showings, which will have a direct impact on your commission check.

The Features of the Best Property Management Software in 2024

Let’s break down how software for real estate management can simplify your day-to-day routines, and which of its features come in handy specifically for real estate agents:

Job scheduling option

When you have a team working for you, you need to schedule their work, disperse the load, and check their assignments to provide a flawless operation of the agency, which brings you clientele and thus, profit. An opportunity to build optimal schedules for your employees based on each employee’s submitted availability and job qualifications is what you can appreciate in modern real estate scheduling software. In Shifton, for example, you can add all relevant information, such as location and tasks, and share assignments with your employees online, so your staff has everything they need to perform at their best on their mobile phones. Everyone gets their share of the work, and you avoid drawbacks and overlaps due to the use of a thought-out real estate scheduler.

Digital tasks, forms, and checklists for your best operations

When you have a shared field for simultaneous work with your team, you can streamline the whole workflow. Besides, this option can be used both for your employees’ tasks and for your personal task management plans.

• You create tasks quickly and assign them to your employees,
• You maintain a clear overview of their progress in real-time right in the real estate scheduling software. This could be anything from one-off maintenance requests to routine inspections and cleaning jobs.
• You can add all the information your employees need to get to work and get the job done on time, such as notes and deadlines.
• In a real estate scheduler like Shifton, you can develop custom reports, forms, and checklists for your staff to fill out, use electronic signatures to confirm each employee’s identification, and submit them back for your review to stay in the loop and ensure compliance.

Manage your facilities with ease

When you’re running a real estate agency, working as a freelance real estate agent, conducting an inspection service, or facilities management business, you need full oversight of all your resources at a glance. That is what real estate software for property management is used for. With it, you can indicate all the facilities and housing, add them to the list, manage them, and distribute tasks that concern these facilities to your staff. The main benefits you get from such solutions are as follows:

• You can flexibly manage each facility or real estate object and indicate all the information about it using software for real estate management.
• You can assign housing for sale for your employees to disperse responsibilities.

Ensure the safety and performance of your field staff

Real estate shift scheduling software allows you to equip your brokers, agents, inspectors, and field staff with the necessary tools to do great work, including digital safety forms and secure site sign-in and out. Besides, when your staff is in the field, they do not need to spend time after completion of their tasks to develop reports. In the best app for realtors Shifton, checklists and reports can be filled in remotely, from a mobile phone, and even on the go, which simplifies the working process.

Improve customer experience

Shifton, as an example of the best planner for real estate agents, delivers all the capabilities you need to drive a customer experience to a higher level due to advanced functionality including the following built-in tools:

• An automated appointment confirmation and reminders that prevent you from missed appointments.
• Rapid replacement scheduling when an agent can’t complete an appointment – you can replace them with another employee to streamline the operation and retain customers’ loyalty.
• Location pairing to get the closest frontline workers to customers fast and save time and costs on long-distance appointments.
• Comment fields to share information from previous jobs and provide instant feedback while your employees are in the field.
• Virtual meeting options to scale up your team-building efforts and provide instant communication with the staff in a single online working space.
• An intelligent job matching and automated staff scheduling based on business priorities to meet SLAs consistently. For example, enables property valuation companies to quickly assign available workers to new jobs to meet tight turnaround times for larger clients.

As a result, when you transmit numerous operations to the online field in real estate scheduling software, you get multiple benefits from streamlining all these processes to quicker completion of deals, and higher customer service.

What Are the Benefits of Property Management Software for Real Estate Businesses?

The main benefits of using special software for real estate management refer to its helpful essence and the thoroughly designed tools that are integrated into it.

• It boosts efficiency by automating complex and repeatable daily tasks and processes. This further allows you to save time so that you can focus on the bigger picture.
• It allows you to organize, manage, and track important information and processes on a centralized platform. Besides, you can share it instantly with your staff using cloud technologies.
• It works in favor of your business’ security by providing a secure platform for managing sensitive information, such as tenant information, personal data of sellers, buyers, landlords, their payments, and other vulnerable information. Due to the high protection level, the real estate scheduling app and its cloud storage reliably protect it from leaks.
• It provides you with real-time insights by giving you a clear overview of all data managed in the system and providing instant feedback from your workers. This lets you stay on top of your operations and make informed decisions timely and thoughtfully.

Times when for successful operation of real estate businesses, you needed just a paper planer and a calculator, are long gone. Today, to stay ahead of your competitors and gain more clients and profitable deals, you need to be fast, and client-oriented, provide agile and informed decisions, and develop synergy in your team. That all can be reached by using high technologies. In 2024, a real estate scheduler is a must for agents and agency owners. Moreover, if this scheduler is as advanced as Shifton, you gain even more benefits and develop an ecosystem that is useful for your staff communication.

The niche of retail is highly profitable and in demand, yet it has multiple hidden rocks which can lead to low efficiency of retail management. There is no need to fear them as retail management tips by Shifton may help you cope with the challenges on your way to the highest-efficiency retail management workflow.

The first thing to consider for an effective manager in retail is that this business requires from you to manage a diverse range of things and processes daily. Consider it a non-stopping water flow you need to manage. This flow includes overseeing all store employees, delegating multiple tasks to them, managing their completion, and at once, being a part of a team to provide synergy. Sounds a bit fantastic? It’s real when you have informational support and know how to synergize your retail team’s work. Shifton shares the most effective retail staff management tips to help you with that.

What is a retail manager and which tasks do they perform?

A retail manager is someone who manages a retail store, assists with management, or manages a certain department. Since retail stores can vary in size from small businesses with a few hundred feet of storefronts to large warehouses, malls, and supermarkets owned by huge corporations, the duties and tasks of a retail manager can vary. Moreover, they vary also from day to day depending on the current load on a selling point or a department, customer flow, and even seasonality.

Yet, most commonly, being a retail manager includes the following retail staff management tasks:

• arranging the store environment to make it ergonomic and attractive for customers;
• managing store employees, their tasks, and results;
• maintaining and tracking goods available in stock;
• shoplifting losses tracking, mitigation, and prevention;
• customer service which depends on your assistance;
• tracking sales over set periods and providing reports to higher executives.

Saying briefly, a retail manager is an employee who is responsible for the overall functionality and effectiveness of a selling point.

How to be a good retail manager

We offer you a couple of tips which suit retail managers of any type and at any size of business and provide resultative retail staff management when applied.

Retail scheduling is a must!

Your selling point should work clockwise to bring profit. For this, you need your personnel to start their work timely and work simultaneously. Thus, even for a small grocery store, you need to provide proper retail scheduling. And regular and logical shifts in supermarkets or malls are a real must.

Although scheduling in the retail industry can be a nightmare, the solution is simple and it is embodied in modern retail scheduling software. With it, you do not need to keep in mind huge data massifs or write them in tables on paper to decide on time-off requests, vacations, emergencies, busy times, lazy times, sick times, etc. Instead, you use an automated tool and you can fill in new variables and data in it on the go.

Using a proper retail scheduler, you can perform multiple tasks at once.

• Deciding on the best combination of employees for each shift to make their work the most efficient and customer-friendly. You can select teams for the shift based on their skills, hard work, and the synergy they have.
• A retail scheduler like Shifton streamlines the scheduling process by providing alerts and suggestions so you can avoid double-bookings, conflicts, and scheduling someone when they can’t work. You optimize shift work schedules in a couple of moves, and you create optimal shift schedules instantly.
• Distribution of schedules and shifts is also up to retail employee scheduling software. Your team has access to the dashboard in the app and they can easily get info about when is their shift or propose changes if they have some obstacles. You can organize everything in the cloud so that it’s available anywhere, anytime, and alerts your retail team instantly of any changes provided. Each employee can propose changes to the schedule, independently swap shifts, receive alerts of work schedule changes

The best in employee scheduling software for retail is that it automates everything that can be automated from shift assignments to salary calculations and working hours calculations for each employee and a team as a whole. You can automatically create an optimal rotation schedule for shop assistants, cashiers, guards, loaders, and sales floor staff with automatic coordination of shift changes and assignment of shifts to employees including overtime.

Retail manager tasks

Task management is also a part of retail staff management routines. You need to highlight daily tasks, decide on their executors, track their completion, and report on the results. The good news is that you can use the same retail scheduler as retail task management software. It includes tasks you need to delegate to the employees you manage, and besides, you can plan your days and provide checklists for yourself so as not to miss anything. You can set priorities, control the completion of each assignment, and provide notifications about crucially important tasks and timelines for both you and your staff.

Use effective time management

When we said that retail point should work clockwise, it was about effective time management too. If your shop assistants constantly are late, couriers do not manage timely delivery, or your warehouse staff forgets about supplying stocks, what happens then? A true disaster! Yet it can also be automated to mitigate the risks that we listed. You need to apply time and attendance management software for retail. Shifton offers this opportunity in its scheduling software for retail for large businesses. The same refers to periods of downtime where there are fewer customers, and most employees are not engaged in workflow. Good time management is what allows you to provide flexible solutions for your team: when you need them to start working, when you need to have more staff in the store to cope with intense customer flow, and when you can provide them with days off with no losses in the store’s efficiency. Just try to provide time management in Shifton, and you may be surprised by how easy it is when automated and streamlined.

Hire a high-quality team

Your store’s or department’s effectiveness starts with your team. You can have some assistant managers, if you manage a big department to delegate recruiting and headhunting tasks, and you can use retail scheduling software to control the efficiency of each worker to replace them if they are not meeting your requirements or work with their sleeves off.

Use retail scheduling software

As you can see, multiple retail management routines can be eased by retail employee scheduling software. With this software, you provide higher results in the following areas:

• managing employees’ scheduling;
• analyzing daily sales;
• tracking employee time off;
• providing effective task management for you and each employee.

From a wider perspective, it can help you to build an effective management strategy and set goals for each selling point that are achievable and logical.

Focus on your store’s traffic

Traffic in a selling point is what shows its profitability. You can use software to count customers and export reports about busy times. By knowing your store’s traffic and when you’re the busiest, you can be more prepared and prevent emergencies at peak dates, i.e., on holidays, black Fridays, or sales times. It can help you schedule adequate staff for your expected amount of customers and avoid arranging big organization tasks or stocking for times when the store will be full of customers.

Provide instant data tracking

Retail management is based on numbers: sales, visitors, goods in stock, sold goods, income, and maintenance expenses, form the whole workflow. All this data requires your attention and accurate calculation. Manually, it’s a die-hard task, but it still has to be done. When you use retail scheduling software, you can keep all data in one place, operate it, and provide reports that show your management results in numbers.

What data to check and process?

• Customer numbers;
• Sales levels;
• Number of sold goods in specified periods;
• Working hours for each employee;
• Overworking;
• Peak hours in your store.

Then you can operate this data to analyze the whole work and improve it when needed.

How to improve the management of a retail team?

Efficient team management in the retail industry can make all the difference in customer satisfaction and overall business success. Here are some additional tips:

• Provide the best scheduling template (like 2/2, 3/3, 1/3, 5/2), depending on your store’s specifics. Do not fear to try some of them to decide on the best one.
• Set clear tasks and notify your staff about them. You can create task assignments for employees in a cloud environment using the retail scheduler. Besides, do not forget to track these tasks, andprovide checklists and task statuses for them. Shifton employee scheduling software provides you with all these functions.
• Send automatic push notifications and reminders to your staff to alert them and prevent missing shifts or outdated assignments.
• Do not remain stuck in your office place. Exchange shifts, weekends, and sick days online to save time and remain mobile.
• Motivate your employees with overtime bonuses – you can easily calculate them in employee scheduling software.
• Work with breaks to avoid simultaneous breaks in your team. Create pre-scheduled breaks or set limits on the number and duration of breaks to guarantee that in store environment will always have enough staff to provide customer service.
• Work with attendance to understand when actually a person starts and ends the shift. If you detect constantly being late some of your personnel, you can provide penalties for bad work the same way you calculate bonuses.

Simplify Scheduling

With a robust employee communication app, you can more efficiently schedule employees in the following ways:

• Assign staff shifts based on job role, and availability.
• Use drag and drop, assign shifts in bulk, set recurring shifts, create customizable templates, and even allow employees to claim open shifts available.
• Automated push notifications so employees can immediately accept or reject shifts directly from their mobile devices.
• Include shift tasks, notes, and even files within theschedule so employees know exactly what to do upon arrival to work.
• Complete oversight over collaborative staff scheduling in real-time all while on the go.

Being an effective retail manager is not a mission impossible, whether managing a small store or a full-fledged retail department. Just remember that your efficiency is based on three pillars, which are as follows:

• Thorough planning and time management.
• Effective recruiting to create the best team.
• Flawless employee scheduling software helps with most routine tasks daily.

If the first two are mostly your responsibility, Shifton can provide you with the third pillar to make your management workflow simplified, time-saving, and effective.

Have you ever faced such a product as a restaurant scheduling app? If not, probably, it’s time to consider which processes, assignments, and routines can be performed with the help of special software for personnel management in restaurants. Get the expertise from Shifton’s developers to apply the best features of such products in your workflow.

Being a restaurant manager is an endless run. You have to cope with multiple tasks and at once, control numerous staff from a chef and sous-chefs to couriers, suppliers, cleaners, etc. Besides, numerous emergencies can kick you off the process, and it’s fully your responsibility, although standard tasks also cannot be delayed. All of that on top of the everyday tasks from scheduling to payroll to reporting can catch up to you.

Yet, you are not alone in this endless routine, as Shifton takes care of restaurant managers to ease their lives with the help of a single tool which can be a skeleton key for you.

You probably won’t be surprised by the automation in the restaurant business. Yet, a special app for restaurant management can help you start spending more time doing what you love and saving your nerve cells.

Restaurant management tips for happy employees benefits

Whether you’re using sales forecasts and labor targets to create restaurant employee scheduling or processing payroll, Shifton gives you the tools you need every step of the way. With the help of Shifton’s scheduling app for restaurants, you can automate and perform the following processes in a streamlined mode:

• Track working hours accurately for each employee;
• Reduce time theft and buddy punching in your restaurant;
• Empower your team members to give your customers the best service possible.

The best thing to do to get a happy crew is to communicate with them. In terms of a single restaurant, it is already complicated as everyone is in motion. What to say about network establishments, then? With Shifton’s restaurant management application, you provide your staff with a communication channel to reach out to one another and you as well. You may watch in real-time how communication in a common environment helps to reduce misunderstanding, and thus, numerous drawbacks, and how it gets you higher loyalty from your staff and makes them happier while their working load remains the same.

Improve your personnel’s performance with work schedule tips

For a restaurant, having a clear and thought-out schedule is a must. You need your chefs and their assistants to be at work at a scheduled time. Suppose that you do not schedule your cleaners to start preparing the restaurant’s hall to meet visitors at all its glance. You need waiters to be strictly ready to start serving customers timely. Your reputation is endangered if any part of this operation fails due to scheduling mistakes.

Using an automated restaurant staff scheduler is a magic key. It helps increase employees’ productivity and boost your revenue. Let’s consider how to decide on the type of schedule for your establishment and which tips to use to make it work flawlessly.

Scheduling software for restaurants

With the help of software for personnel management, you can create a basic set of scheduling policies and stick to them. That forms the basis for the whole operation, and it helps you to manage how far in advance you will publish schedules and how far in advance employees need to make time-off requests. You can also include setting minimum hours for each employee or designating particular shifts as high-traffic (and thus better for tips) using a scheduling app for restaurants.

As a result:

• You provide your team with a clear vision of their future work and the number of shifts/working hours they have to work.
• You show that you are good at time management and thus, confirm your professionalism in the employees’ eyes.
• You motivate your staff to pick high-traffic shifts to get more tips.

Employee engagement

Here, we come to the next step. You need to maintain the highest engagement of your team to provide your restaurant’s flawless work. With an automated system for restaurant management, you can give your team real-time feedback on their performance, and timely advice and get their feedback. Software for restaurant management like Shifton provides managers and employees with a convenient communication channel and helps your team feel supported and engaged at work.

Employee retention

In the restaurant business, employee turnover seems natural, but it is a huge challenge at once, as finding and hiring real pros who won’t let you down is hard. Running your restaurant efficiently is to show your employees that you respect their time and value their talent, to make them engaged and loyal to their job. An effective restaurant management system is a key part of building a positive environment. Thus, do not neglect the staff that you have but at once, evaluate their efficiency to decide on strengthening the team with new employees or motivating your current personnel to work better. With Shifton’s software for restaurant management, you can check and evaluate the efficiency of each worker using multiple parameters including working hours, overwork, customer satisfaction levels, etc.

Fast notifications and reminders

Do you want your staff to perform their duties tip-top? Is it crucial for them to cope with multiple tasks you set? Do not leave even a chance to miss something or forget about assignments. Automated shift reminders which are integrated in scheduling software for restaurants can considerably reduce no-shows or missed tasks. Just develop notifying text messages or push notifications and adjust settings to send them to employees’ mobile devices at a certain time. The same refers to alerting messages in case of emergencies, notifications about corporate events, or future team-building meetings if you hold them.

Collect data and use it thoughtfully

At the end of each day, take notes on how your staff coped with the daily routines, which drawbacks were crucial, and which work required reward. You can also analyze the efficiency of each shift to consider If you’re consistently understaffed or overstaffed during a specific shift. All that data is easily tracked in Shifton’s system for restaurant management. Just take it and use this data to adjust your schedule accordingly, build your management strategy, and report on the results to a restaurant owner.

Improve productivity with hi-tech solutions embodied in the Shifton restaurant scheduling app

Restaurant management tools benefit your entire team, from hosts and waiters to chefs. When you maintain higher efficiency of operations and streamlined communication using software solutions, this results in a stressful work environment for everyone.

Which types of technologies are on guard of the restaurant business? Let’s consider it.

Employee scheduling software

With the help of automation, you can forget about daunting work with spreadsheets, tables, paper schedules, and plans.

Instead, restaurant employee scheduling software which is based on cloud technologies, provides you and your staff with the following features:

• Fast schedule development in a matter of clicks, which is available in Shifton in the form of convenient templates.
• Easy distribution of information about schedules and shifts among your employees.
• Flexible adjustments and changes in the schedule, which you can provide online from any part of the world.
• Convenience of tracking working hours, overwork, missed shifts, or days off.

Task management software

Setting tasks using special staff management software? That is truly the best way to keep your restaurant running smoothly. In Shifton, you can make checklists for every worker from chef to server, and control their completion. From cleaning flat tops to refilling sanitizers, it’s easy for tasks to get lost in the shuffle.

That’s where task management software comes in.

• It’s a great way to streamline your tasks, with separate checklists for each role and shift.
• It allows you to track your team’s productivity.
• It helps reduce drawbacks and check missed or forgotten things. Task management software maintains historical data of tasks completed, so you can overlook it and get the information that you need.

Employee communications tools

When it comes to employee communications, texting and phone calls are the most popular communication channels. Yet, they are not good for restaurants where each worker remains in constant motion and has no time to check SMSs or answer calls. The best idea is to provide your employees with a shared environment to communicate with you and with each other. In terms of a system for restaurant management, it comes in handy for the following reasons:

• You can contact each employee with ease.
• They can communicate with one another to avoid misunderstandings and buddy punches.
• You can track the whole working process just by checking the information your employees share with others. If something goes wrong, you are among the first who know about it.

Shifton provides a secure, business-centric communication tool that allows you to share schedules and announcements instantly. It also makes it easier for your employees to request time off and address payroll concerns like missing punches.

Timekeeping restaurants

Time-keeping restaurant software is a must-have tool. With time-clocking software, employees clock in and out with the touch of a button. Plus, the software syncs directly with your payroll to automatically calculate hours worked.

Restaurant time clocking software can also help prevent early clock-ins, cutting back on labor costs. It solves the problem with enforced break times and shift lengths. The software will quickly calculate overtime and keep secure records of your team’s hours.

Payroll automation

Using restaurant employee management software is a great alternative to hiring a payroll specialist or providing your accounting department with an additional load to calculate salaries. Instead, you have all working hours tracked and payroll calculated instantly in Shifton. This automates wage calculations, overtime pay, and tax and benefit withholdings. There’s no relying on manual calculations, so you’ll have fewer payroll errors and spend less time at the computer.

As every type of software that we indicated there is useful, getting all of them in one tool is a godsend. That’s what Shifton offers to restaurant managers. Payroll software syncs directly with your time clock and scheduling software in Shifton, and you get a singularized environment for most management tasks and operations.

What are the benefits of restaurant management software?

The most significant benefits of Shifton for the restaurant management goals are as follows:

• A shared environment for managers and employees to communicate and provide instant feedback.
• A one-fit-all tool that combines the features of time management software, task management tools, HR tools, shift scheduler, and a communication channel.
• It offers adjustable multi-level access to its functions, which can be used by managers and personnel on different levels.
• It automates most processes you earlier had to keep in mind or provide manually.

Thus, using restaurant management software, you improve the whole restaurant business operation, remove possibilities of mistakes and drawbacks, and manage your team more easily. The results are good for you as a manager, as you work efficiently and hassle-free, and for your team, as its members can satisfy their customers and get reasonable rewards for their efforts.

Have you got special medical scheduling software in your healthcare business? Automation is a must even in such a socially-oriented industry. When you want to enhance the efficiency of your healthcare institution, you need more than high-end diagnostics and medical equipment. Software products for healthcare management are also worth your attention. Let’s discover on the example of Shifton scheduling software for healthcare, how your workflow can upscale to a new level of efficiency and client-friendliness.

Ensuring quality care for your clients and patients is at the healthcare industry’s core.

Beyond medical expertise, this requires the right tools and strategies to empower your care team, enhance communication, streamline operations, and keep everyone well-informed. Of course, you can pick a couple of tools to provide all these functions, yet the better idea is to select a single tool which embodies them impeccably.

What Is Quality of Care in Healthcare?

Quality of care in healthcare refers to delivering safe, effective, patient-centered, and timely medical services that result in the best possible outcomes. It encompasses clear communication, empathy, evidence-based treatment, and respect for patient preferences.

Providing high-quality patient care means ensuring that patients receive the right care at the right time, tailored to their individual needs. Healthcare professionals must prioritize safety, accuracy, and compassion to optimize patient experiences and health outcomes.

Quality of Care Examples

Examples of excellent patient care include:

• Personalized Treatment Plans – Tailoring medical care based on individual patient needs, preferences, and medical history.
• Effective Communication – Ensuring patients fully understand their diagnosis, treatment options, and medication instructions.
• Respect and Dignity – Acknowledging patient concerns, maintaining confidentiality, and treating every individual with care.
• Timely Interventions – Reducing wait times, promptly addressing symptoms, and following up on treatments.
• Holistic Approach – Addressing mental, emotional, and physical health rather than focusing solely on symptoms.

By implementing these patient care techniques, healthcare providers can significantly improve patient care and create positive healthcare experiences.

Why Is Quality of Care Important?

Ensuring high-quality patient care is crucial for patient safety, satisfaction, and overall health outcomes. When healthcare providers focus on effective patient care, they not only enhance medical treatment success rates but also build trust and loyalty among patients.

Here’s why providing quality care should be a top priority:

• Better Health Outcomes – Patients receive accurate diagnoses, timely treatments, and personalized care plans, leading to faster recoveries.
• Increased Patient Satisfaction – A positive healthcare experience makes patients more likely to follow medical advice and return for future care.
• Reduced Medical Errors – Following best practices and maintaining attention to detail prevents avoidable complications and misdiagnoses.
• Stronger Patient-Provider Relationships – Respectful communication and empathy help patients feel valued and heard.
• Efficient Use of Resources – Well-managed patient care reduces unnecessary hospital visits, readmissions, and healthcare costs.

Providing quality care for patients isn’t just about treating illnesses—it’s about creating a healthcare system that prioritizes well-being, efficiency, and respect.

Communication for Healthcare Professionals

Effective communication is a cornerstone of quality patient care. Healthcare professionals must:

• Clearly explain diagnoses and treatment plans to prevent confusion.
• Use simple language when discussing medical conditions with patients.
• Listen actively to patient concerns and provide reassurance.
• Encourage patient participation in decision-making regarding their health.
• Provide written instructions to help patients remember medication and care guidelines.

Strong patient-provider communication leads to better treatment adherence, fewer misunderstandings, and higher patient satisfaction.

Empathy and Understanding in Patient Interactions

Patients often feel vulnerable when seeking medical care. Demonstrating empathy and understanding is essential for providing exceptional patient care. Healthcare providers should:

• Acknowledge patient concerns and validate their feelings.
• Offer reassurance and emotional support when delivering diagnoses or treatment plans.
• Be patient and attentive during consultations, making patients feel heard.
• Use compassionate language to create a comforting healthcare environment.

By focusing on emotional as well as physical well-being, healthcare professionals can significantly enhance patient care.

Timely and Efficient Service Delivery

Delayed treatments can have serious health consequences. Providing timely and efficient care ensures:

• Faster diagnoses and treatments to prevent complications.
• Reduced patient wait times, improving overall experience.
• Better resource management, preventing overcrowded facilities.
• Improved staff coordination, ensuring smooth patient transitions between departments.

Optimizing patient care through efficient service delivery results in higher patient trust and better medical outcomes.

Respect for Patient Privacy, Preferences, and Dignity

Patients have the right to privacy, dignity, and autonomy in their healthcare experience. Healthcare professionals should:

• Maintain confidentiality of patient information.
• Respect patient preferences regarding treatments and procedures.
• Allow patients to participate in decisions about their care.
• Provide a comfortable and private care environment whenever possible.

By prioritizing patient dignity and rights, healthcare providers build trust and foster better patient relationships.

Best Practices for Delivering Quality Patient Care

Delivering high-quality patient care requires a patient-centered approach that prioritizes respect, communication, and efficiency. Below are 20 proven strategies that healthcare professionals can implement to improve patient care and enhance overall healthcare experiences.

1. Show Respect

Patients should always feel valued and respected when receiving care. This includes:

• Addressing them by their preferred name.
• Maintaining eye contact and active listening.
• Acknowledging their concerns and taking them seriously.
• Providing privacy during examinations and procedures.

2. Express Gratitude

A simple “thank you” can create a positive patient experience. Healthcare providers should:

• Express appreciation for patient cooperation.
• Recognize caregivers and family members who assist with care.
• Foster an environment where staff acknowledge each other’s contributions.

3. Coordinate Patient Care With Other Providers

Seamless coordination between nurses, doctors, specialists, and therapists ensures optimal patient care. Best practices include:

• Sharing up-to-date patient records to avoid duplicate tests or missed diagnoses.
• Conducting team huddles or case discussions for complex patient needs.
• Ensuring patients receive consistent guidance across different departments.

4. Provide Emotional Support

Patients often experience stress and anxiety during medical visits. Providing emotional support helps ease their concerns:

• Offer reassurance and compassion.
• Explain procedures in a calm and friendly manner.
• Encourage patients to ask questions and express their fears.

5. Engage Patients in Their Care Plan

Patients who actively participate in their treatment are more likely to follow medical advice and achieve better outcomes. To foster engagement:

• Discuss treatment options openly and transparently.
• Allow patients to express preferences and concerns.
• Provide educational materials about their condition and self-care.

6. Address Your Patients’ Physical Needs

Ensuring comfort and basic needs is an essential part of quality patient care. Healthcare providers should:

• Regularly check if the patient is in pain or discomfort.
• Assist with mobility for patients with limited movement.
• Ensure proper nutrition, hydration, and rest for inpatients.

7. Support Your Patients’ Mental Health

Mental health is just as important as physical well-being. Healthcare professionals can:

• Screen for anxiety, depression, or emotional distress.
• Encourage mental health discussions and provide resources.
• Offer referrals to psychologists or counselors when needed.

8. Help Your Patients Manage Their Medications

Medication errors can be dangerous. To improve patient safety:

• Provide clear and detailed medication instructions.
• Use medication reconciliation to prevent duplicate or conflicting prescriptions.
• Educate patients on potential side effects and interactions.

9. Deliver Quality Patient Care Experiences

Positive patient experiences lead to higher satisfaction and better health outcomes. Ways to provide exceptional patient care include:

• Minimizing waiting times and delays.
• Keeping patients informed about their care process.
• Ensuring that healthcare facilities are clean, safe, and welcoming.

10. Prioritize Training and Education

Continuous training and skill development ensure effective patient care. Healthcare organizations should:

• Provide regular workshops on communication and empathy.
• Update staff on medical advancements and best practices.
• Train teams on customer service in healthcare to enhance patient interactions.

11. Increase Access to Care

Many patients struggle with accessing timely care due to financial, geographic, or scheduling barriers. To improve accessibility:

• Offer telemedicine options for remote consultations.
• Extend clinic hours for working patients.
• Reduce appointment wait times for urgent needs.

12. Engage Patients and Families

Families play a crucial role in patient recovery and well-being. Healthcare providers should:

• Encourage family involvement in decision-making.
• Offer caregiver education on how to support patient recovery.
• Keep families informed about treatment plans and progress.

13. Improve Communication

Strong communication skills prevent misunderstandings and improve patient trust. Best practices include:

• Speaking clearly and using layman’s terms.
• Confirming patient understanding by asking follow-up questions.
• Using written instructions and visual aids when necessary.

14. Stay On Top of Daily Tasks

Organized workflow leads to better patient care in hospital settings. To maintain efficiency:

• Use checklists to track patient tasks.
• Assign clear responsibilities to each staff member.
• Minimize administrative burdens through digital documentation.

15. Measure and Monitor Quality

Tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) helps healthcare providers enhance patient care. This includes:

• Measuring patient satisfaction scores.
• Monitoring hospital readmission rates.
• Reviewing treatment success rates.

16. Set Tangible Goals

Setting realistic, measurable goals helps maintain continuous improvement in patient care. Goals should focus on:

• Reducing average patient wait times.
• Increasing treatment adherence rates.
• Enhancing overall patient satisfaction.

17. Relay Progress Back to Staff

Keeping healthcare teams informed about quality care improvements fosters motivation and engagement.

• Share success stories and positive feedback.
• Recognize staff who excel in patient care.
• Encourage collaborative efforts to address challenges.

18. Gather Patient Feedback

Patient insights help healthcare providers improve service quality. Feedback collection methods include:

• Surveys and satisfaction questionnaires.
• One-on-one interviews with patients and caregivers.
• Digital platforms for anonymous reviews and suggestions.

19. Hire the Right People and Properly Train Them

Qualified, compassionate healthcare staff make a significant difference in patient care quality. Best practices include:

• Hiring candidates with strong interpersonal and medical skills.
• Providing ongoing training and mentorship programs.
• Ensuring team alignment with patient-centered values.

20. Streamline Care Management with Technology

Technology improves efficiency, communication, and patient safety. Healthcare facilities should:

• Use electronic health records (EHRs) to streamline patient data.
• Implement automated appointment scheduling.
• Leverage AI-powered chatbots for patient inquiries.

By integrating these patient care improvement strategies, healthcare providers can optimize patient care while ensuring better outcomes and experiences.

Barriers to Delivering High Quality Care

Despite efforts to improve patient care, healthcare providers often face obstacles that hinder service quality and efficiency. Identifying and addressing these barriers is essential for ensuring high-quality patient care.

1. Limited Staffing and High Workloads

• Understaffed facilities result in longer patient wait times and rushed consultations.
• Overworked healthcare professionals are more likely to experience burnout, affecting patient interactions and decision-making.
• Solution: Implement better workforce planning and consider flexible scheduling solutions to optimize staffing levels.

2. Inadequate Communication Among Staff

• Miscommunication between nurses, doctors, and administrative staff can lead to treatment delays and errors.
• Lack of a centralized patient information system results in duplicate tests and conflicting prescriptions.
• Solution: Use electronic health records (EHRs) and team collaboration tools to streamline communication.

3. Lack of Patient Engagement

• Patients who feel uninformed or excluded from their care plans are less likely to follow medical advice.
• Limited access to educational resources can cause confusion about medications and treatments.
• Solution: Encourage shared decision-making, provide clear health information, and use patient portals for better engagement.

4. Financial Barriers to Care

• High healthcare costs prevent patients from seeking timely medical attention.
• Limited insurance coverage leads to delayed treatments and poorer health outcomes.
• Solution: Offer flexible payment options, financial assistance programs, and telehealth services to increase accessibility.

5. Resistance to Technology Adoption

• Some healthcare professionals hesitate to integrate new systems, leading to inefficiencies.
• Outdated technology slows down administrative processes and increases the risk of medical errors.
• Solution: Provide ongoing training for healthcare staff on new patient management technologies.

6. Regulatory and Compliance Challenges

• Healthcare providers must follow strict regulations on patient data protection, safety protocols, and medical procedures.
• Compliance with constantly changing laws adds administrative burdens.
• Solution: Implement automated compliance tracking tools to reduce manual paperwork and ensure regulatory adherence.

7. Long Wait Times and Scheduling Inefficiencies

• Overbooked appointments frustrate patients and reduce the quality of care.
• Last-minute cancellations and no-shows create scheduling gaps, leading to wasted resources.
• Solution: Use automated scheduling systems and offer virtual check-in options to improve patient flow.

8. Limited Access to Mental Health Services

• Many healthcare facilities focus on physical health while neglecting mental well-being.
• Patients struggling with anxiety, depression, or chronic stress often do not receive adequate care.
• Solution: Integrate mental health screenings, therapy referrals, and emotional support programs into routine care.

By addressing these barriers, healthcare providers can enhance patient care, improve efficiency, and create a more patient-centered healthcare system.

How Shifton Can Improve Patient Care

Effective patient care in hospitals and healthcare facilities depends on well-organized workforce management. Ensuring the right number of qualified staff are available at the right time is essential for delivering high-quality patient care. Shifton, a cloud-based employee scheduling service, helps healthcare providers optimize shift planning, improve team coordination, and enhance patient experiences.

1. Efficient Shift Scheduling for Healthcare Staff

• Prevents understaffing and overstaffing, ensuring consistent patient care quality.
• Allows managers to quickly adjust shifts to accommodate unexpected changes, such as emergency cases or staff absences.
• Supports rotating, fixed, and flexible scheduling, making it easier to match patient demand with workforce availability.

2. Reducing Administrative Burdens

• Automates shift planning, reducing manual scheduling errors.
• Saves time for hospital administrators and nursing managers, allowing them to focus on patient care improvement.
• Ensures staff members are scheduled according to legal working hours and rest requirements, preventing burnout.

3. Improving Team Communication and Coordination

• Provides a centralized platform where staff can access their schedules anytime.
• Enables real-time notifications for shift changes, reducing confusion and missed shifts.
• Helps healthcare professionals coordinate patient care efficiently across multiple departments.

4. Enhancing Patient Care Accessibility

• Ensures that hospitals, clinics, and emergency care units always have the required staff for timely medical assistance.
• Helps maintain shorter wait times for patients, improving overall satisfaction.
• Reduces scheduling conflicts, ensuring continuous coverage for critical care units.

5. Supporting Work-Life Balance for Healthcare Workers

• Allows staff to request shift changes or swap shifts when necessary, reducing stress and improving morale.
• Helps prevent burnout and exhaustion, leading to more engaged and attentive healthcare professionals.
• Encourages better retention of skilled healthcare workers, leading to long-term patient care stability.

6. Optimizing Workforce Utilization

• Tracks staffing needs based on historical trends and patient influx.
• Helps ensure the right personnel are assigned to the right roles, avoiding inefficiencies.
• Makes scheduling adjustments easier, improving operational efficiency in hospitals and clinics.

Shifton simplifies workforce management in healthcare, helping organizations deliver better patient care, reduce operational inefficiencies, and improve overall service quality.

To Sum It Up

Delivering high-quality patient care requires a strategic approach that focuses on effective communication, patient engagement, and workforce efficiency. Healthcare providers can enhance patient experiences by implementing best practices, utilizing technology, and overcoming common barriers.

Key Takeaways:

• Patient-centered care improves treatment outcomes and satisfaction.
• Effective communication reduces misunderstandings and enhances trust.
• Timely service delivery ensures better health results and efficiency.
• Engaging patients in their care plans leads to higher adherence to treatments.
• Addressing physical and mental health needs provides holistic patient care.
• Workforce scheduling optimization prevents staff burnout and improves service levels.
• Technology-driven solutions, such as Shifton, help streamline care management and improve overall efficiency.

By implementing these ways to improve patient care, healthcare facilities can ensure quality care for patients, optimize resources, and maintain a patient-first approach.